Police scanner app passes TikTok in App Store

Protesters just made a police scanner the most popular paid iOS app in the country.

On Monday, 5-0 Radio Police Scanner, which costs $5, was the number one paid app in the App Store. A pared-down version with ads was the number two paid app, surpassing TikTok and second only to the suddenly popular Zynn app. Vice first reported on the app’s rise. 

Protesters clashed with police in Minneapolis, Louisville, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and other U.S. cities over the weekend. They are demanding an end to police brutality after George Floyd was killed by a police officer.

Scanner apps let protesters listen to live police radio feeds. App analytics firm Apptopia found the top five police scanner apps, such as 5-0 Police Scanner and Police Scanner, were downloaded 213,000 times over the weekend. That’s a 125 percent increase from the weekend before — a record for police scanner apps. 5-0 Police Scanner was downloaded 40,000 times between Friday and Sunday in the United States. 

Other related apps saw download surges as well, like the encrypted messaging app Signal. It was downloaded 37,000 times this weekend, a record for the app. Same for community alert app Citizen, which was downloaded 49,000 times during the same period, according to Apptopia.